After more than 35 years in the construction industry, Bob Hambright '74 understood the inevitability of change and seized its opportunities. He started as a project engineer and advanced to become Southeast division president and chief executive officer of Balfour Beatty Construction, a position he held until his March 31, 2010, retirement.

During his career, Hambright and his company pursued a challenging mix of projects, such as a 32-story office tower for Bank of America and accompanying complex in the heart of Charlotte, a high-end retail mixed-use project in Atlanta, the Wake County Courthouse in North Carolina and privatized communities for 30 naval bases across the United States.

Hambright learned to lead a team when he earned his M.B.A. from Winthrop after completing his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Clemson. "I went to Winthrop, and it gave me the personal confidence to know I could go out and do anything I wanted to do," he said.